The oxiclean contains sodium percarbonate which is also called proxy carb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_percarbonate Its used in wineries as a non chlorine sanitizer. I use it to clean tanks, then afterwards rinse it with a solution of citric acid or tartaric acid. Citric is cheaper. I take wine glasses, dip them in a solution of proxy carb and warm water for a few minutes. Then rinse and you will notice a dull appearance to the glasses. Then dip in a solution of citric and the glasses are cleaner than the day they were made and sparkle like hamster eyes in the moonlight. The combination of the caustic agent followed by a water rinse and then an acid rinse will remove everything. You can probably use diluted solution of white wine vinegar as the final rinse if you can't get citric. Some of the stuff online suggests oxiclean is just pure sodium percarbonate. In 50 lb bags its around $80 (in case you have alot of glasses.) It cleans to surgical levels of clean in terms of removing/dissolving organic crap and in terms of sterile sanitation. Don't get the shit on your skin or in your eyes. It's caustic and will burn sear flesh. Not immediately, but you get the picture. It's an oxidizing agent. If I use it for several days without gloves I notice some loss of skin layers on my hands and cracking. It will burn your eyes. Maybe exaggerating the risk, but use common sense.

I've tried everything short of the caustic chemical cleaners mentioned here, and nothing has worked better for me than hot water immediately after use, so I usually push myself to jump on this particularly b/c they are such a pain to clean.

We had dinner at Philadelphia's long running classic, Le Bec Fin, last night. My wife asked the sommelier how they get their decanters so clean. She said they use Efferdent. Drop it in and rinse the next day. I have to try that one.

I just rinse with very hot water several times and then hang upside down to dry. When I get an old decanter that has some discoloration on the bottom, I've had success with a soak of hot water mixed with about 1/4 cup of white vinegar, followed by the hot water rinse. I'll have to try the denture tablet thing, as it sounds like a good idea.

For a cheap and easy fix I use ice cubes tossed in salt with some lemon juice. Salt will stick to the ice making it coarse and lightly granulated with a soft sort of "sand paper" texture. Lemon juice is your citric acid which of course helps cut through the junk at the bottom. Swirl and whirl until content, rinse with warm water. For multiple decanters, just transfer the contents to the next one. Rinse and repeat.

Based on the advice above, I tried the denture tablet solution and it worked like a charm! I suggest trying it twice at first, then using a single treatment to keep it clean, but the residue is gone without having to deal with BBs or funky brushes. Thanks for the advice!

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Yes, I have the palate of a peasant....

If I have a few stubborn spots I will throw some rock salt in the decanter and give it a few swirls with hot water then a rinse with RO water to minimize the hard water spots. I try to make sure it is rinsed every time before the night is over also.

I use powdered brewery wash for any discoloration or build up. It is the same stuff that I use to clean my carboys. It won't hurt your skin and you can soak just about anything in it without hurting it.

This is really nice and informative post specially for them who drink wine or beer regularly. The suggestions you shared about Decanter cleaning is might be useful to people. Although I have tried different kind of caustic chemical cleaners before but that did not worked.

Steve Ritchie wrote:A good soak with store-brand denture tablets did the trick for me... and it's really easy to do!

yes the best way ... I go one step further I season with moonshine after to kill everything .... 190 proof the real deal... we have a bamma shiner who has great skills and I put his work to good use...

I rinse after each use with hot water. If there is some staining over time, a wee bit of dishwasher detergent with very hot water once every year or two takes those out. The denture cleaner sounds safer, though. Never tried it.

"English doesn't just borrow foreign words, it stalks languages down dark alleyways, knocks them over and then rifles their pockets for new words." -- @Another NPC on YouTube

Cracking stuff. Hot water immediately after use. A couple of years ago I got myself a long handled, plastic dishmòp - the kind with bristles and a mohican style quiff -, heated it over an element and cunningly bent it into the required shape. Nothing beats the satisfaction of cleaning your decanter with a highly modified plastic dishbrush of your own invention. Wish I had a photo, but to be honest to the naked eye it looks ungainly - only in action can you appreciate its sublime fit for purpose.
Merry Christmas all
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Normally, this isn't a problem as I rinse them with hot water before the wine dries on.

Eventually some shellac or staining may build up. I bought a cheap toilet cleaning brush -curved wire with bristles, $5 at the grocery. Then I clean the decanters with the brush and non-scented dish soap - works great. The brush is labelled "WINE DECANTERS ONLY" on the handle and stored with wine accessories, well away from any toilets.... for obvious reasons. The key here is the curved wire and bristles. It gets past the neck of a decanter then reaches tough to get to spots easily. Also, I don't go for way out 'glass blowing' art decanters.

I have a decanter that I “inherited” from a wine friend...it’s so wide and has a very narrow & deep opening that it really is a pain in the @$$.

I’ve tried denture removers (5+ times). There is still a white/gray film that looks like something once grew there. I’ll try bleach, but it sounds like I need something more heavy duty to clean it out.

As a nice little nifty detail, you can use kitchen roll/paper towel to dry the washed decanter.
First I let the newly washed decanter drip with the bottom up. Then, after a while, I turn it back around and stick in some paper towel and leave it there overnight.

The paper towel is designed to absorb moisture rather efficiently, and with two or three leaves/pieces of paper towel rolled together in the decanter, it is perfectly dry and without limescale residues the next morning.

This works great. Especially with decanters of special shapes.

Edit: Some words and phrasings.

Last edited by M. Jorgensen on February 7th, 2019, 10:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

In the winery, everything is cleaned with caustic. You can purchase it in non-industrial quantities online or at a local hardware store. Caustic is very basic and so removes tartrates (acidic) very well - if you want it to clean quicker, just increase the concentration (1/8 cup or so should be fine). Rinse with something acidic (citric acid solution) to neutralize the caustic and then final rinse with distilled water if you don't want water spots.

Warning: Caustic will be 'activated' by water. This includes water from the sink or the moisture in your skin. Do not get caustic on your skin, it doesn't feel very nice. Use gloves and prepare the citric acid rinse solution before using the caustic. If you do get caustic on your body, rinse with the citric acid solution to neutralize the caustic (think fight club).

I struggled with a decanter for years. Glass would get stained with the red wine and it was way too much work to clean. I came up with a solution that might work for you. Take a clear, white wine bottle. Take off the label. Steam clean the bottle. Then get yourself a pewter wine funnel--I have one that I must have bought in England 25 years ago and it was unused for all those years. It has a half inch screen that fits into the funnel and catches sediment (removable for cleaning). I pour the wine from bottle one, through the funnel, into the bottle two (the white wine bottle that has been cleaned). If you see any sediment then look into the empty bottle one and see if any remains--if so wash it out. The funnel has a side exit that helps to aerate the wine as it goes through the funnel, down the inside of bottle two. Reverse the process. Pour the wine from bottle two back, through the funnel, into bottle one.

This process takes about 30 seconds. You have a bottle of wine, in its original bottle, that has been aerated, with the sediment removed. The bottle is now acting as the decanter. Sometimes it is perfect to drink now, sometimes it improves over the next day. But this decanter is only used once.

I steam clean (boiling water through the funnel) into the white wine bottle every few weeks, with any hint of odor.